The Raider Incident
by tootypoot
Summary: Just a story focusing on two OCs traveling the Capital Wasteland a few years after the story of the Lone Wanderer. Rated T for the bits of violence for now. Mostly just an experiment in character development, using the Fallout universe as a means to do so, but let me know what you think. First few chapters are honestly a bit short.
1. Chapter 1

It had been a long trip. Weeks and weeks of constant traveling. Following the old highways from St. Louis was hard enough, what with large sections of the road destroyed long ago, but at least he had the old road signs to tell him where he was. Now he'd decided it would be easier to follow the Potomac to his destination, as it was smack dab in the middle of the ancient river. Jack's one man caravan was headed for Rivet City, having heard the rumors of the Brotherhood of Steel's success in purifying the water in the area. Obviously, the effect would take time, and the Potomac was still not safe to drink or swim in. He'd have to conserve his water for the time being, until he was able to trade something for some Aqua Pura.

The trek was a bit treacherous from time to time. Steep, rocky mountains were hard enough to climb on his own without having to coax a pack Brahmin over them as well. This particular Brahmin-the heads individually named, "Billie and Suzy"-was his sole companion for the entire trip, and though she, or rather they, were stubborn, Jack hadn't been let down by the beast yet. Loaded down with various supplies, the mutated cow carried most of the things one needed to survive out here. A tent, a sleeping bag and bedroll, extra guns and ammo, and enough food to last Jack the rest of the trip and then some. He was only a few more days away, less than week at most.

Reaching the top of a hill that had proven to be a lot rockier than he'd thought, Jack unscrewed the metal cap on an old, round canteen, tipping his head back to take a swig of the contents. The water inside was warm, and a bit dirty, but he'd done his best to rid it of the deadly rads. He'd have to see a doctor at some point about getting it cleared up. Scanning the wasteland before him, Jack looked up the mountain to see the blackened, blasted remains of what was once Raven Rock, a pretty sizable Enclave base. A demolished Vertibird could be seen strewn across the jagged rocks that dotted the mountainside, alongside twisted and melted pieces of metal, likely from the base itself.

He took a moment or two to rest, before climbing once more to reach to road below the old base. It, too, was littered with debris. Once up on the road, walking was much easier, and Billie and Suzy could walk without him worrying. He would be able to follow this road for a while, and according to other travelers who'd come through the area, he didn't really have to start worrying about steep hills again until he reached Springvale, and that didn't bother him because they were all the opposite direction of where he'd be going once he reached that point.

As he followed the cracked road, the sound of clattering rocks far below caught his attention. Sneaking up to the side of the road, he peered over the ledge. A small group of Mirelurks was digging around in the rocks near the river further below him, probably looking for food or someplace to lay more eggs. It was obvious that the purifier's effects had not reached this far yet. Since they hadn't noticed him at all, Jack decided it was better to stay quiet and just avoid them altogether. It was ammo saved for another emergency, as well.

There was little going on at this end of the Capital Wasteland. Very few wastelanders wandered out this far, and there were no settlements nearby, so it made sense that the area was hostile and untamed-at least compared to other parts of the wasteland.

During the long walk, Jack busied himself looking in the burnt out cars that were scattered all over the road. Most of them were empty, picked clean long ago by scavengers much older than himself. About an hour or so later this lost his interest, as he had come upon a power station, secured by a chain link fence. It was tucked up next to a cliff, that was producing enough shade for both he and the pack Brahmin to get some actual rest and eat.

While Billie and Suzy were munching away on old, dead grass, Jack set himself down with his back against the cliff wall, digging through some supplies he'd unloaded from the beast.

He had no sooner stuck his spork in his food when there came a bunch of shouting and hollering. Startled, the pack Brahmin made to run, only to be shot two or three times and fall to the ground, motionless.

It had happened so quickly, Jack hadn't had time to pull his gun from it's holster before a large raider, dirty and much more muscular than himself, appeared from around a tall rock and swung at Jack's midsection with a blood-splattered baseball bat. The force easily knocked Jack off his feet, taking all the wind out of him. As he doubled over in pain, the raider hit him again, flattening his crumpled figure out onto the dry, hard ground.

There were at least five of them. A wiry, young looking girl with frazzled pigtails joined the larger raider in beating the trader down into the dirt with an old pool cue, while the others made sure the pack Brahmin wasn't going to get up and run away with all the precious loot. It only took a few more hits from the team of marauders to make him black out, face first in the dirt.

-several hours later-

Jack didn't dare open his eyes. The splitting pain in the back of his skull kept them tightly shut as he winced on the ground. At first he didn't move, he'd been awake for a few minutes now, but he had no idea if his attackers were still nearby. At first he only listened, afraid to breathe. The only thing he heard was the sound of the evening wind coming up the hill from the river, rustling the dry weeds around him.

He was still alive, which was strange for a victim of a Raider attack. They must have been so busy taking his things that they'd forgotten to mutilate the unconscious man.

When he was sure he was alone, Jack cracked his eyes, only to immediately close them again due to the bright evening sun. The sky was turning a deep red. It was too fitting.

After a moment, Jack overcame the pain and forced himself to sit up, attempting to ignore the awful aches all over his body. His face felt a bit swollen, but at least he could still open his eyes. The taste of blood was all too present in his mouth, dried and caked under his lips. It made him feel sick.

But not as sick as he felt when he turned around to see the body of his poor Billie and Suzy, butchered. Skinned and butchered, and likely to be eaten by the assailants from earlier. They'd taken everything the Brahmin had been carrying, and then cut her up into steaks.

Realization hit him, and Jack choked, whether on the blood in his mouth, or in an attempt not to go into hysterics. Everything was gone. All his food. All his water. All his weapons and his money. Gone. And he was stuck out here with nothing but cuts and bruises. He frantically checked his pockets, hoping maybe the raiders had missed something, anything. All he found was his old portable radio, which they'd apparently seen no use for, and a matchbook with only a single match left in it.

Being left alive was probably worse than being killed at this point.


	2. Chapter 2

For a brief moment, Jack considered throwing himself off the bridge nearby into the rocky waters below and just saying "fuck it all." But when it came to actually doing so, he couldn't. There was always a chance the rocks might miraculously miss anything vital, and then he'd be stuck down there, defenseless against the Mirelurks that would inevitably come after him and tear him apart.

It sounded like a real shitty way to go, he thought. Poor Billie and Suzy...

Instead he found himself aimlessly wandering across the bridge, absently bumping into the cars along the way. He had no idea where he was going at the moment, as he was still a bit dazed by the whole ordeal. But the open end of an old semi trailer gained his attention. It was was empty, as far as people went, but there were a few crates laying about the floor, and a dirty white first-aid kit half hidden behind one of the tires. He doubted there would be anything in it, but he checked anyway.

He was surprised to find a roll of bandages inside, as well as a bottle of water.

Jack wasted no time unscrewing the cap and taking a swig of the warm water inside, swishing it around in his mouth to clear away the bloody taste he couldn't seem to escape. When he checked his body for cuts that might need bandaging, he actually found very few. The back of his right hand was split open, most likely where the female raider had slapped him with her pool cue while he attempted to cover the back of his head. Using the water and wrappings he'd just found, he cleaned and dressed the wound before continuing on.

It took him much longer to move now, the beating he'd taken made his joints stiff, and he'd barely made it to the end of the bridge when the sun was finally setting. He'd need to find shelter soon if he wanted to live through the night.

He wasn't so sure he wanted to, honestly.

It was about forty five minutes later when the radio in his pocket began to crackle. It surprised him, at first. He'd had no idea it was even on. At first he heard nothing but static, but as he kept walking the signal became clearer, and he could hear a faint beeping.

He'd heard Morse Code before, but he had no idea what any of it meant. He was pretty sure that was what this beeping was, however. Thinking nothing of it, he switched the radio off and continued walking in silence as the sun dropped behind the barren mountains.

The temperature was beginning to drop, and Jack's thin coat wasn't going to do much to keep him warm while he slept, especially with the wind picking up.

He spied a round opening at the foot of a rocky hill. There was an old relay tower on top, which was likely where the signal a few moments ago had been coming from. Tired and sore and having given up, Jack pulled the cover off the old tunnel entrance without worrying what might be inside. If it was something that was going to kill him, so be it. It's not like there was much he could do to prevent it at this point. And he'd probably end up dead in a few days anyway.

Honestly, he didn't really care what happened at this point. If it was empty, he would just die some other day.

The tunnel was dark, mostly, save for a flickering light or two that illuminated a couple heavy metal doors on either side of him. He closed the cover to the entrance, content that he was at least safe from the elements in here. He didn't bother checking the two rooms, instead, settling himself down on the floor beside the entrance and resting his head on his forearms.

He'd intended to just doze off that way, cold and sore and hungry, until the sound of one of the metal doors clicking open made him jump up.

"Hands up," a strange voice commanded from the dimly lit chamber. It belonged to a woman, that much he could tell.

"I'm unarmed," Jack replied flatly.

The stranger didn't move from her spot in the doorway, presumably still pointing her gun at him.

"How'd you find this place?" she asked.

Jack sighed. "Look, I just needed a place to sleep, I got jumped by raiders and they took all my shit," he explained. This was met with silence at first, then the woman spoke up again.

"Are you okay?" she asked, sounding a bit less angry and intimidating. Strange.

"As okay as I'm gonna get..." Jack muttered in response. This was followed by another lengthy silence, the stranger still standing there, pointing her gun at him.

"So you mean... you... you didn't hear the radio signal?" she asked, her voice beginning to sound disheartened.

"I heard a radio signal, but it was just beeping..." The stranger cut him off, however.

"How did you get past the Deathclaws?" The suspicious tone was present in her voice once more.

Deathclaws? He hadn't seen any Deathclaws in the area, which apparently meant he was lucky. A Deathclaw would have killed him at least, instead of leaving him with absolutely nothing. "I didn't see any Deathclaws. Do I really look like I could have fought off a Deathclaw?" he asked sarcastically, irritated.

At this moment the stranger shined a bright flashlight his direction. Jack squinted and held up a hand to block the beam as the woman studied him.

"Fuck, you weren't kidding about those raiders, were you?" The question was rhetorical, and Jack ignored it, furrowing his brow in irritation. The light went out and Jack heard the sound of the safety being clicked back into place on the woman's gun. Obviously, she had no reason to feel threatened by him, she had the upper hand. He was bloodied and bruised, and she had a gun. "You want some Med-X or something, man?" she asked, all hostility dispersing from her voice. Jack couldn't even bring himself to answer, he just nodded in the dim light and sat very still against the cool metal wall, at the mercy of this stranger.

"I expect you're smart enough not to pull any shit," the woman observed, approaching the man on the floor. He wouldn't, he wasn't that kind of person, but he wasn't exactly in the physical condition to do anything, either. Jack didn't resist when she grabbed an arm and gently tried to pull him off the floor and help him into the room she'd come from. If she was going to kill him, she would have done it already. "Go ahead and lie down," she added when they reached the doorway.

This room was better lit than the hallway, and an old terminal's green screen glowed faintly in the corner on a beaten metal desk. A few shelves held various supplies, a decent amount of food and some water, some Rad Away and Rad-X, a first aid kit, and a few boxes of cigarettes. A shoddy looking Ham radio sat next to the terminal, which the woman turned off.

Jack did as the woman suggested and laid his aching body down on the bed while she readied a syringe full of Med-X for him. "You're lucky," she said, jabbing the needle into his arm, "most people get mutilated if raiders are involved."

Yeah... Jack sure felt lucky.

Everything he'd worked for over the last seven years was gone, and he had absolutely nothing to show for it. On top of that, he had no reason to be in this place, this wasteland. He didn't know the area, and he didn't know the locals and he couldn't afford to go home now, either. In a matter of seconds, he'd lost everything.

The Med-X soothed the aches in his limbs, and it made him drowsy. His eyelids began to feel heavy, but he fought the feeling, because she was still talking to him.

"What are you doing all the way out here?" she asked.

The Med-X must have been making him a bit loopy, too, because laughed when he replied. "I could ask you the same thing." The momentary relief was enough to make him forget he'd just been brutally beaten, and he found himself in better spirits-obviously, this was the work of the drugs. The woman didn't laugh, instead she looked at the man quizzically, noting his clothes and appearance.

"You're not from here are you?"

"Illinois." It was the last word Jack could get out before the Med-X took over and he fell asleep.

The woman sighed, setting the gun down on the desk and seating herself in the chair next to it. Questions would have to wait till tomorrow, it seemed. Not being tired herself, she occupied her time reading old entries on the terminal, apparently the final days of the previous resident. There had been a skeleton in the bed when she'd first entered the tunnel in an attempt to hide away from the Deathclaws that often roamed the area. She'd been stuck down there for nearly two or three days, and supplies weren't going to last forever. The fate of the previous refugee made her heart sink. Who knows exactly how long they had been stuck down there before they died.

And now she had this other wastelander here, broken and in need of medical assistance. She mentally kicked herself for lacking the ability to just shoot her problems in the face, she didn't have that killer instinct like many did out here. It would be her downfall one day, probably soon. But she just couldn't kick the poor man out and say "tough luck." She'd never be able to live with herself if she did.

She'd finished the entries by now, and turned her attention to the sleeping man in the bed. He was tall, taller than her by a good five inches or more, but he didn't look very muscular. His arms and legs were very long, and he almost took up the whole bed. His face was rough looking and dirty, but beneath that she could tell he was still fairly young, no older than his early thirties at the most. Matted, greasy black hair was caked to his forehead with blood, and a painful looking cut was present on his square chin.

She watched him silently for a few, berating herself some more for just letting a stranger into her hideout, and then, of course, assisting him. Her father would be disappointed in her for that, but she really couldn't bring herself to kill a hurt and defenseless person. The caregiver in her took over again, and she removed the man's boots, placing them on the floor by the foot of the bed. He didn't even flinch, the Med-X had him knocked out cold, so she also took a moment to wipe away the blood and dirt on his face, gently patting away at the aforementioned cut as well.

Feeling tired herself, she returned to her seat at the desk and let her head fall forward as she dozed off, arms crossed over her chest.


	3. Chapter 3

This room was dingy, and small. Jack opened his eyes some odd hours later, confused by his surroundings. Taking a moment to look around, events from earlier began to replay in his mind. He almost panicked, but the tension it caused in his muscles made him grit his teeth, and relax back onto the dirty mattress.

He was still alive.

He spotted the woman who had helped him, medicated him and put him to sleep. She was smaller than he was, but a bit athletic. Her arms showed this. They weren't overly muscular, but it was obvious she had done a decent amount of hard work. Her legs were the same way, strong and sturdy, but not masculine. Like him, her clothes were filthy, mud and blood stained the once white wife beater she was wearing, and her cargo pants had several patches on the knees and hips, obviously well-worn. She wore no shoes at the moment, dirty toes wiggling in her sleep as she snoozed in her chair. Long, messy looking brown hair was pulled into a loose ponytail at the side of her neck, tangled.

Sitting up, Jack located his boots at the foot of the rickety bed and set to putting them back on. The Med-X had helped a great deal, but his body still ached as he leaned forward to tie the muddy laces. The creaking of the bed woke the woman across from him.

Without a second's hesitation, she'd grabbed the gun from the desk, pointing it at him once more.

The sudden movement caused Jack to jump, sitting up straight with his hands up near his face. He kept a straight face as the woman took a moment to recall her surroundings.

"I'm sorry." She exhaled roughly, returning the gun to the desk as she woke up the rest of the way. Jack said nothing, and returned to the task of lacing his hiking boots. "How are you feeling?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

Jack couldn't help eyeing the girl curiously, almost suspiciously. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate her help, but she'd so willingly assisted him, and that was not something one encountered very often. He was silent for a moment before answering.

"Better. Thank you." The statement sounded forced. He didn't really feel much better, but the rest had certainly done him some good. An awkward silence followed. There was tension between the two. It was obvious they both had questions, but no one spoke. The woman opened her mouth as if to speak once, but decided against it, so Jack spoke up first.

"So what do you need me to do?" he asked, in regards to the help she'd given him. The strange woman's face became confused, as if she didn't understand what he was talking about. "For the Med-X, and the shelter. What do I owe you? Because I don't have anything," he explained, holding his empty hand up for emphasis. The look she gave him almost seemed like she was pitying him, and Jack wasn't sure he really liked that.

"You don't owe me anything..." she said softly, her eyebrows creating concerned lines between them.

"Bullshit," Jack grumbled. "You don't get something for nothing." He gave the girl an icy glare, and her expression changed to that of hurt. "So what is it you want? You want me to get you out of here?" he asked, "Because I can't. I haven't got anything to offer."

The girl returned Jack's glare before speaking. "You're awfully rude for someone at the mercy of a stranger," she muttered. "And yes, I think I would like you to get me out here now that you mention it."

Jack sighed. He hadn't necessarily meant to be so aggressive, he'd simply been suspicious of her intentions. It wouldn't be the first time someone had "helped" him only to ask for some form of payment after the fact. Jack opened his mouth to protest anyway.

"Can't you hear? What the hell can I do to help?" he asked, his expression changing to an irritated one.

"I don't need you to do anything," she said, rather irritably, rising from her seat at the desk. "You got in here just fine, and you didn't see any Deathclaws, correct?"

Jack nodded.

"Good, then that means there's a chance we can just slip out of here before they come back sniffing around for a snack." By now they'd likely forgotten she was hiding out down here, but that didn't mean the area wasn't crawling with them. They wouldn't come looking for her, but there was still the danger of running into one.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Jack asked, his face scrunched in disbelief.

The woman ignored his protests, locating her boots under the desk. When she'd pulled them on, she pulled a dirty sweater over her shoulders and began loading her supplies up. A small canvas bag had been filled with supplies from the shelves, and the gun, a small pistol, was now on her hip in its holster. Jack waited another moment for her to reply, and when she didn't, he decided there was no arguing with it.

Why did he care? A few hours ago he'd accepted the fact that he'd soon be dead anyway, so who cared if a Deathclaw came along and tore them apart? Another long silence filled the room as the woman ignored him, readying herself to leave the safety of this structure.

"You're serious..."

She ignored him still, emptying the contents of the first aid kit into her bag.

"Fine... Fine. Where are you headed?" he asked.

"Home. Megaton." She replied shortly, not looking up from her current task. Finished with packing, she stood up straight, slinging the bag onto her back. "You?"

It was Jack's turn to sit silently in response as he recalled the events from the day before. "Megaton, I guess," he replied after a moment of thought.

The woman smiled, thrusting a hand in his direction. "Lotti," she said, introducing herself. Jack hesitated, but took the woman's hand and shook it, and told her his name as well. "Nice to meet you Jack." The statement was obviously meant to be sarcastic.

Jack rose from the bed, cracking his sore back as he did so. He let out a sigh of relief as the small amount of pressure was released from his bones.

"You need some more Med-X?" Lotti asked. Jack shook his head, it would only put him back to sleep.

"A stimpak would be nice, though..."

Lotti nodded, producing one of the syringes from her bag and handed it to him. He injected the stimpak into his midsection, feeling the pain dwindle away, subdued for the next couple hours. It would keep him going for now, but it wasn't a permanent solution. Then she was handing him a dirty little box. The label on the front read "animal crackers."

"Better eat up," Lotti said, "It's a long trip to Megaton." Jack obeyed, tearing open the side of the little package and popping one of the ancient snacks into his mouth. It was stale, of course, but fell apart like dust when he chewed on it. There was a slight sweetness to them, however, so he didn't complain. Lotti helped herself to an old box of potato chips.

When the two finished their hasty meal, they found themselves standing at the round metal entrance of the small tunnel.

"Ready?" Lotti asked, turning her gaze to her new companion. Jack nodded, even though, in all senses of the word, he was far from ready. He had no weapons, and between the two of them, a measly little ten millimeter was nothing to brag about. Pushing the round cover aside once more, the tunnel's entrance became flooded with late morning light. The two sat in strained silence, listening for any signs of Deathclaws nearby, or anything else that would try to eat them.

The only sound was that of the wind whistling over the open tunnel.

"I'll lead for now, since I've got the only gun," Lotti claimed, hopping out of the tunnel with her pistol drawn. She kept close to the rocky hillside as she scanned the wastes for any sign of movement. There were none, so she motioned for Jack to follow her outside. "Megaton is at least two days from here, think you can manage?"

"If you keep the drugs coming..." Jack replied absently.

The walk was mostly silent, as neither of the two made much of an attempt to talk to the other. Small chit chat was exchanged between the two, and bits and pieces of their history were brought to light, but no in depth conversations were had. Mostly, the two shared a palpably tense silence, unsure of the actions of the other. Jack did end up explaining how the raiders had destroyed everything he'd worked for, though.

Lotti was just a local, a citizen from Megaton. Apparently she'd been attempting to leave the Capital Wasteland, but upon her run in with the Deathclaws, she'd decided she wasn't prepared for anything like that, and Jack agreed with her. He'd thought he'd been prepared, but apparently he was wrong, and he'd even had the funds and supplies to afford a trip all the way from what was once St. Louis. Lotti's father was back in Megaton, and likely to be very upset with her when she showed up back home.

The two continued their back and forth questions, long periods of silence between them, for about half an hour before they crested a hill and came down into an abandoned camp ground. A weathered sign could still be read, "Mount Mable Campground." As far as the pair could tell, there was no movement below them, so they cautiously descended into the campground. Several blown out campers sat about the area, but it was likely they were empty, much like everything else out here.

"Stick together, we've only got one gun," Lotti mumbled as they began poking their heads into the old campers, looking for anything they could use. As expected they were empty, or contained only old, dirty mattresses.

One trailer however, was different from the rest. For starters, there was an awful smell, foul and sickening, but they both recognized it as the smell of a dead body somewhere nearby, a normality for those who traveled the wastes for any amount of time at all. At first, there was nothing strange about the situation, people died out here all the time, but when Lotti poked her head into that last camper, she jumped back, hand over her mouth as she gagged and heaved.

It was not one body, but several, all dismembered violently, and piled in the camper. Upon closer inspection, Jack noticed the tears in the flesh, jagged and ripped, and obviously not the work of raiders. The size of the cuts on some of the bodies was alarming, and reality sank in. This was a food store. For a Deathclaw. It had been stowing away it's half eaten meals for later consumption and they had wandered right into its territory.

"Lotti..." Jack opened his mouth, beginning to explain the situation, that they needed to get the hell away from this place as quickly as possible, but a holler from the woman made him whirl on his heels to find himself staring a Deathclaw in the eyes. How it had snuck up on them, he had no idea, but it made no difference now.

The monstrous beast towered over them, its forearms alone nearly as tall as the younger woman. Fresh blood was smeared on its face, suggesting it had recently eaten, but that wouldn't stop it from going for a snack like the two wanderers. Jack became frozen, his feet felt heavy like cinder blocks as he stared, slack-jawed at the monstrosity before them.

It lowered its head on its wide muscular shoulders, before letting out a piercing howl which made the pair's blood run cold. At first it approached him slowly, but a few rounds from the pistol Lotti carried annoyed it, and it turned its attention to her, roaring again. The bullets hardly did anything, lodging harmlessly in the beast's thick hide, and served only to make it mad. She shot again, and the Deathclaw charged after her.

At first Jack was surprised by how quick she was, but having observed her earlier in the tunnel, he remembered how athletic she actually was. Being able to outrun a Deathclaw was a rare and valuable gift in this hostile place. Lotti's legs pumped frantically, scrambling up and over the large rocks in the campground, the Deathclaw hot on her heels. Jack searched for something to distract the creature with, but found nothing, and they were getting further and further away from him. If the Deathclaw came after him, it would have an easy meal given his beaten state, but he followed them as fast as he could, attempting to ignore the limp in his left leg as he ran behind them.

A scream escape Lotti's lips as she tumbled over the edge of a steep hill and rolled out onto the road at the bottom. Of course, the Deathclaw followed, leaping off the top of the hill to land merely feet from the form of the woman's body sprawled out on the road. It raised it's giant hand, ready to strike her, when Jack reached the top of the hill. Panicked, he shouted down to the beast.

"Hey!" He cupped his hands around his mouth. "Over here, more meat!" He waved his arms above his head to get its attention as Lotti pulled herself up off the asphalt. The Deathclaw was momentarily distracted by his frantic flailing and it failed to notice Lotti stand up. She looked to Jack, who waved her on, motioning her to continue towards the river, and she did so.

For a moment, the two thought they'd never see each other again, and Jack was sure he was going to die this time. The Deathclaw was a deft climber, but the loose soil on the side of the road gave it some difficulty, so Jack darted away along the ridge as it clambered after him, never reaching the top of the hill.

Another set of gunshots from over the side of the road pulled his attention back to the direction Lotti had just run. She was coming back now, and trailing her was a group of three Mirelurk hunters, heavily armoured, and highly aggressive. This caught the Deathclaw's attention as well, and it allowed itself to slide back down the soft hillside to the road again.

Luckily for the destitute pair, the Deathclaw quickly lost interest in them, and turned its attention to the trio of Mirelurks now charging at it. There was a great deal of howling and roaring as the Mirelurks rammed their bodies into the large beast, only to be swiped at in return. Its massive claws easily cut through their tough exteriors, a Deathclaw could very easily take down a group of Mirelurks, which meant they had little time to get away. The mutated crabs had only bought them a few moments at most.

Jack slid down the hill, meeting up with Lotti at the bottom. Without a word, the pair dashed away over the side of the road and down towards the river. If they could cross it, their scent would be lost to the Deathclaw, and it wouldn't be able to follow them. No words were spoken as they dove into the irradiated waters and swam to the other side of the murky Potomac. The few seconds they spent in the water were not enough to cause any permanent damage, and soon the dripping wet pair was running once more, as fast and as far away as they could get from the horrible monsters behind them.


	4. Chapter 4

They didn't get far from the other side of the river before Jack's lungs were burning and his legs felt numb and tingly.

"Please... I need to stop," he gasped, his footfalls becoming uneven and sporadic. He stumbled, but regained his balance, but did not stop shuffling along. Lotti, who was content to just keep running, slowed herself down, the worried lines showing up between her eyebrows once more as she watched her partner grow weary. She threw a glance over her shoulder, and saw nothing pursuing them, so she stopped.

"Stop, Jack. We can rest for a minute," she said, gasping for breath. She pulled a bottle of water from one the deep pockets of her pants and handed it to the injured man. Too out of breath to reply, Jack raised the bottle as a way of saying "thank you" and took two large gulps, gasping for air when he swallowed. He handed the bottle back to Lotti, who did the same before offering it back to Jack. He declined, they needed to save as much water as possible until they got to Megaton.

The two walked on in tired silence, their breathing slowing down to a more normal rate. Their clothes were sopping wet, but the afternoon heat would soon start drying them out. Honestly, the wet clothes made the mugginess of the day that much more bearable for the time being.

As the two continued on, a pile of cars came into view, stacked neatly as if to provide some sort of shelter, but the entrance, which was facing their direction, let them see right into the middle, and it was empty. Upon reaching the construct, the pair found a half decomposed mattress and a few ammo boxes, which they wasted no time in rifling through.

The containers turned up little loot, a second, smaller pistol and a handful of bullets for it. Lotti insisted that Jack hold onto it, since he was unarmed. They rested here, but not for long, still worried about the beasts roaming the area. Just long enough to let their limbs rest and drink a little more water. From her backpack, Lotti produced a map, hand drawn, on a t-shirt sized piece of cloth.

"My dad got this from one of the Brotherhood of Steel patrols near Megaton when they first started their Aqua Pura caravans," she explained, unfolding the map and laying it out on the dirt. With a dirty finger, she pointed out a location on the map, about a day's travel away. "This Arefu, it's a friendly town. If we can make it there, we can rest for the night, should be there around early evening if we hurry."

Jack nodded, noting the location on the map.

"It's on an overpass, so it's safe from raiders and whatnot, plus the area is a lot safer than out here. The worst thing you'd run into aside from stupid, occasional drugged up raiders is maybe a group of mole rats." Their bites hurt like hell, but no one had ever died from a mole rat attack. Not that Lotti had heard of, anyway. "I gotta be honest, I can cook up some pretty good mole rat steaks though," she joked, attempting to lighten the mood.

Jack couldn't help the smile that crept onto his face, the last two days had been exhausting and hectic, so the humour caught him off guard. He didn't complain though. His face grew pained though, as the numbness in his legs went away, and was replaced by throbbing pain. The scuffle with the Deathclaw had his heart racing, and the stimpak Lotti had given him had worn off much faster than if he'd been able to take it slow.

Noticing his grit teeth, Lotti reached into her bag and handed him another stimpak. Jack took it graciously, once more injecting the device into his stomach before tossing the empty syringe aside. However, Lotti scooped it back up off the dusty ground, wrapped it in an old piece of cloth and tucked it away in her bag again. Jack raised an eyebrow, so she spoke.

"The doctor in Megaton cleans these and refills them. He's got a pretty good setup going, now that the Brotherhood has clean water going around. Pretty smart guy, we're lucky to have him." she explained, closing up her bag. They waited a moment, for the full effects of the stimpak to work on Jack's bruised body, and Lotti took notice of the bloody bandages wrapped around the man's hand.

"That looks like it needs cleaning..." the woman said, handing Jack the water bottle. He accepted it, unraveling the bloody strip of cloth, wincing as it tugged at his skin and re-opened the wound. The swelling had gone down, but his fingers were still stiff as he rinsed away the sticky blood. He used as little of the precious liquid as he could. True, there were two more bottles in Lotti's backpack, but one could never be too careful with it. As the wound aired out and dried, he turned to Lotti.

"Are you like, a nurse or something? A doctor?" he asked. The younger woman laughed in response.

"No, nothing like that," she answered. "Just had to patch up a lot of wounds in the last few years." Her father was getting too old to be out wandering around anymore. He'd taken quite a few nasty injuries, which had put him in a state where he was no longer fit to travel, so he'd settled down in Megaton as a result. "Been takin' care of my dad, too. He won't do it..." she trailed off.

"If he won't do it, why'd you leave him alone in Megaton?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow. He took a moment to re-wrap his cut hand and tucked the roll of bandage away in his coat once more. They were slightly damp from the dive in the river, but it was better than having a wound full of dirt.

Lotti scowled at the dirt in front of her, digging her heels into the ground. "Didn't want to be a damn babysitter anymore. Grumpy old fuck just sits around and drinks and bitches about everything." she spat. An awkward silence followed, and for a moment, Jack regretted asking.

"Well... whatever, it's not of my business," he said after a moment. "Can I bother you for one of those cigarettes?"

Without a response, Lotti pulled a carton of cigarettes from the bottom of her bag and handed them to Jack. He snagged three of them, sticking one in his mouth and the other two in his pocket for later. With his last match, he lit his cigarette and took a large drag, savouring the nicotine in his lungs. It helped to take the edge off just that much more.

Taking the initiative, he rose slowly, careful not to stand up too quickly and become dizzy or over extend something as he did so. This got Lotti's attention and she snapped out of her grumpy mood, looking up at him.

"I take it you're okay to go?" she asked. "I don't want to stick around too long, the river's a little close for comfort..." Jack nodded, stretching his arms over his head, and the two began their walking once more.

The pair followed the road, feeling a little safer in each other's company now, after the Deathclaw incident. Jack had been willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of Lotti getting away-which wasn't quite as noble as it sounded, considering he'd briefly been suicidal the day before. And Lotti had been the one to spring into action when the Deathclaw had threatened them in the first place. The understanding was obviously mutual, that they would stick together to Megaton, though neither one really knew what they would do when they got there. Lotti had no real desire to return home and was only doing so because she knew she wouldn't last long out here by herself. She had more to learn, that much she knew. And Jack? Well, maybe he could get himself a job there or something and just... drink the rest of his life away?

Inwardly he slumped. He had no idea what to do anymore. He was just following this girl because she'd been nice enough to share her food and shelter and medicine with him, and somewhere in the back of his mind he knew he owed her, greatly.

Their attitudes toward one another were a bit more cheerful as well, as Lotti made several jokes during the walk, which more than once, got a smile out of Jack. He didn't mind her upbeat demeanor, honestly.

As he puffed away contently on his cigarette, he spotted a rather large slow figure plodding along the road in their direction. He squinted into the dust, covering his eyes with a hand in an attempt to cut the afternoon sun and see what was headed up the road. After a moment, it became clear. An older man with dark skin was leading a large Brahmin towards them, a trader, obviously, much like Jack had been not twenty four hours ago.

He took a moment to remember his own beloved pack animal, his chest feeling a bit heavy at the sight of the other Brahmin. But he threw an arm over his head and waved to the other trader in a friendly manner, which the stranger returned.

"I hate to ask, but... you have any caps?" Jack asked. "He might have something we could use."

Lotti nodded. "A handful yeah, and all those cigarettes to trade, too."

A moment later the two parties were meeting up, a safe distance between them and a guard, a tall woman in heavy looking armour, came around the side of the Brahmin with an automatic rifle in her hands. She kept the rifle pointed at the ground, instead of at them, so as not to "scare off potential customers" the older gentleman said.

Jack and Lotti talked amongst themselves for a moment, while the trader went through his bags, looking for what to try and sell. The wanderers decided they had enough food to last them till Springvale, and Megaton wasn't far from there, but they'd need more water. Jack stepped away from the shorter woman he was speaking with, and moved towards the trader, who had a few items in his hands.

"Can I interest you folks in one of these food sanitizers? Free if I feel like you buy enough crap," the man joked. Jack chuckled to himself before asking the man what he had with him.

"Looks like we could use some water, clean if you've got it-" The trader interjected.

"Aqua Pura, my friend, ain't no cleaner!"

"Great, we'll take a couple bottles. And do you have any, uh, like... binoculars or something?" Jack asked.

The man thought for a moment before returning to his pack Brahmin and digging through a couple leather packs. He returned with a gun scope, medium sized and in decent condition. "What about this?"

"Perfect, that's fine. How much for that and the water?"

"I'd say all this'd run you 'bout... a hundred caps."

Jack turned to Lotti, who shrugged, digging through her pockets. "I've only got maybe thirty or forty caps." She counted them, thirty seven in all. "What about cigarettes?" she asked.

"Oh hell, can always use more of them," the older man said, laughing. Lotti let out a relieved sigh and produced the mostly full carton of cigarettes from her backpack. The trader opened the lid, taking a quick look. After a moment, he nodded. "Fair enough. That's a helluva a lot of cigs." He packed the carton of tabacco product away and retrieved two bottles of Aqua Pura from his baggage, handing them and the scope to Jack. Lotti stepped forward to dump the caps into the man's hands, who took them and gave her a friendly smile in return.

"Much obliged, folks. Here, this one's on me," he added, handing one of the sanitation devices to Lotti. "Makes food a bit safer to eat, and dare I say, taste a bit better." He winked.

"What do the roads look like that direction?" Lotti asked, nodding the way the caravan had just come from.

"Not too bad, mole rats o' course, but Sally here shot quite a few of 'em," he motioned to the caravan guard who was distracted tending to the Brahmin. "Might want to keep an eye out for raiders, but you two seem smart. Anyway, need to get movin'. Appreciate the business." He tipped his ballcap at the pair and the caravan continued on, waving as they got further away.

The two followed the ancient road, as before, this time in silence as they ate their lunches on the go. Jack was busy wolfing down a can of pork and beans, while Lotti had decided to go for a can of Cram. The Aqua Pura was passed off between the two, and they quickly polished off the whole bottle.

"Gimme your can, Walter always needs scrap metal for the water treatment plant." Jack shrugged and handed the can back to Lotti who stuffed them into her backpack.

The scope came in handy a while later. They'd spotted a house in the distance, and hoping for a break, had been crossing their fingers that it was empty. Upon further inspection through the scope, they unfortunately found the house full of raiders and decided to give it a wide berth. They ended up resting under the shade of a broken overpass for a short while instead, rubble and cars fallen from the road above providing decent shelter should anything decide to come looking.


End file.
